The Mets won three of four from the Phillies at Citi Field from Sept. 19-22, and they haven’t been home since.
A span of 16 days, 11 games, and three cities with two stops in two of them since they played what many hoped wasn’t their final game of the season in Queens – and yet, here they are, entering Wednesday with a chance, if they win two in a row against the Phils, to continue their improbable run with an NLCS date against whichever NL West team survives the other Division Series.
“We knew it wasn't going to be easy; we had to go through a lot, not only traveling but playing good teams, but I always have faith in the guys,” manager Carlos Mendoza said during Monday’s workout day. “We continued to believe. We took it one day at a time, one series at a time, and that's what we'll continue to do. Here we are, back at Citi Field with a tremendous opportunity to win a series and keep going. “It feels like we've been on the road forever, but the fact that we're here and we have a great opportunity to not only be back, but playing meaningful playoff games here in front of our fan base, is exciting. I can’t wait.”
So, yeah, if you thought Citi Field has been loud before, just wait until tonight.
“I expect it to be crazy. I was here in '22 and it was definitely wild, for sure. This place can definitely be rocking. The last couple of games we had here were pretty amazing,” Sean Manaea, who will start Game 3, said Monday. “I think everybody could probably feel it last night when they got to sleep in their own beds and just be home for the first time in a while. We've all been talking about what this place is going to be like. There's definitely a sense of rejuvenation. The road can be crazy but I'm looking forward to feeding off that energy.”
When the Mets left for Atlanta two weeks ago for what was set to be a pivotal series, they were 87-69, tied with Arizona for the final two Wild Card spots (but fifth on the tiebreaker), and heading south knowing simply a series win in Atlanta would clinch a playoff spot, and make their final weekend trip to Milwaukee moot.
Of course, losing two out of three in Atlanta, or getting swept, would give the Braves the tiebreaker there and perhaps turn the final weekend into one of hoping others took care of business…and what they got was one game in Atlanta around a hurricane and a rough weekend in Milwaukee that left them needing a win on the season’s final day (for 28 teams, anyway), to have a chance to finish the job back in the ATL.
“To get to this point…we’ve had to go through a lot of things just to get here. At the same time, it's the belief in each other, this team, this organization. I don't think anybody in that clubhouse doubted that for a second,” Manaea said of the Mets’ finish. “That's a special thing about this group, we just keep believing, and we're here. All we have to do is get our foot in the door and let's see what happens. We're at that point. It's been a crazy ride and this group had something to do with it.”
They won Sunday, they won Game 2 in Atlanta Monday…and Tuesday, they were back in Milwaukee winning Game 1 of what would be an epic NL Wild Card Series. Oh, and then, winning Game 1 in Philly on Friday, playing their ninth game in eight days and winning their fifth of the week.
“It's incredible. I think you could write a book or make a movie, you know,” Mendoza said of the Mets’ week. “You go back to that game in Atlanta, the way we won to clinch a playoff spot. Then we go to play in a Wild Card series, and the way we came back and won the series. The first game in Philly, you know, being shut down for eight innings and coming back and getting the W. And the way we lost the game (Saturday). We've been on the good side and now on the bad side. Incredible week. But that's what makes baseball such a beautiful sport and probably the best sport. You can't predict baseball, you just have to enjoy it. There's going to be ups and downs and that's part of it.
And now here we are, getting ready to play in Citi Field and hopefully we continue to write our own story. I’m glad to be home.”
All the last two weeks have done, besides bring resurgence and at least two more games in Queens for guys like Pete Alonso, Luis Severino, and other pending free agents, is put the latest bonding moment on a resume that already includes Grimace, OMG, and Seymour Weiner.
“I think not only the last two weeks, but the month of August, when we went twice to the west coast...you do so much together, and you come a lot closer,” Mendoza said. “But this is a group whether we're home, whether we're on the road, they stick together. They find a way to just, as a group, continue to have conversations, continue to keep it loose, continue to push when they have to and take the losses and get back on the bus as opposed to everyone going different places. And you continue to talk about the game, and the adjustments you have to make the next day in order to get the job done. That’s what you want as a manager, to get that group to believe in each other and have each others’ backs. From Day 1 in Spring Training we said we needed to be a family, and they’ve done it.”
And now, they’re two wins away from guaranteeing themselves at least another two in Queens, and one win Tuesday or Wednesday away from a chance at a winner-take-all Game 5 at the very least…which would just be Game 1 of another three-game, two-city, multiple-coast road trip.
“You've got to go out and do it, work for it every day, and they’ve done it. Even when we were going through those tough days, you could see that it was something special, and here we are,” Mendoza said. “Just got to continue doing the same thing we've been doing.”